Pittsburgh, Pa. – Celebrating its 50
th season of volleyball, the Duquesne University volleyball team earned a split series with Fordham on Saturday, capturing a 3-1 victory inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in conference action. With the win, the Dukes improved to 13-8 overall while posting a 4-5 mark in conference play.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
In the opening set, Duquesne used 14 kills and five blocks to claim a 25-19 victory and take a 1-0 lead in the match. After trading the opening 14 points of the stanza, strung together a 5-2 stint to take a 12-9 advantage. A Rams miscue started the run for the Dukes, followed by a kill from freshman
Emersen Schrom. Fordham would register a point before sophomore
Jordan Robertson found the floor successfully. Duquesne took advantage of two miscues from the Rams to cap the run. After consecutive points from Fordham, the Dukes tallied three straight points to hold a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. Junior
Ariel Helm collected a pair of kills during the stint. Later in the set, the Rams trimmed the Dukes lead to one (18-17) before a kill from graduate student
Elizabeth Drelling and a block and kill from Schrom pushed the Dukes lead back to four. The freshman and Helm gave Duquesne set points with a rejection before an attacking error gave the Dukes the win.
RUN AWAY WITH IT
After dropping the second set 25-19, the Dukes strung together a 9-1 run midway through the third stanza, in helping them secure a 25-15 set victory. Duquesne jumped out to a 7-6 lead before scoring four of the next five points to push its lead to 11-7. Fordham responded with consecutive points before the Dukes bolstered its biggest run of the match to stretch its advantage. Sophomore
Avery Hobson sparked the run with a kill followed by an ace from Robertson and a successful swing by Schrom. An attacking error by the Rams gave the Dukes a 15-9 lead heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, Fordham tallied a point before Helm found the floor successfully, followed by a service ace from sophomore
Chloe Wilmot. Following an attacking error by the visitors, Hobson carded a kill before Wilmot registered her second ace of the stint (20-10). After three straight points from the Rams, Duquesne ended the set on a 5-2 run, where Drelling, Hobson, and Helm all tallied kills.
LET'S CELEBRATE
Featuring eight ties and three lead changes, the Dukes were able to capture the match victory with a 25-23 win in the fourth set. It was a back-and-forth affair to begin the stanza as the two teams tied at 6-6, 8-8, 12-12, and 14-14 before the Dukes took an 18-14 lead with four straight points. Schrom and Hobson each tallied kills while Robertson collected a block. After a kill from Fordham, Duquesne stretched its lead to 21-15 with three consecutive kills, all coming from Hobson. Out of a Rams timeout, they put together a 4-2 run to cut the lead before trimming it to 24-22 with three straight points. Drelling would secure the match for the Dukes after she found the floor successfully.
INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
A pair of Dukes finished with double figure kills, led by
Emersen Schrom and
Avery Hobson. Schrom finished with a team-leading 14 kills and a .400 hitting percentage while tallying 2.5 blocks. Hobson carded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 13 kills and 15 digs, to go along with two aces.
Carsyn Henschen and
Elizabeth Drelling each tallied nine kills while Drelling posted six digs.
Chloe Wilmot (25) and graduate student
Grace Kristofic (20) combined for 45 total assists while Wilmot recorded her eighth double-double with 11 digs and a trio of service aces. Junior
Madison Grimm ended with a team leading 17 digs while carding five assists and an ace in the win.
Jordan Robertson led the team and registered a season-high eight total blocks.
UP NEXT
Duquesne begins a three-match road trip, traveling to Davidson on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26 before heading to Dayton on Tuesday, Oct. 29.
